Husqvarna 460 Chainsaw

Living in the woods (a house in the woods that is) I keep three chain saws in good shape. One of my two homelite SLXs came up with a bad 'transformer' So I retired it for parts rather than spend fifty bucks on an old saw, and I bought a Husky 460. I emailed Husky USA for a 'shop'manual and was told that they would not provide one to end users. (A policy which I will forever hold against them.)

While I'm here, let me review the 460:
Good:
1. Light weight,
2. It starts easily. Very acceptable for the small stuff.
Bad: I really hate the chain that comes with it. Specifically the turned over rakers. I use a chain until it reaches half the size of the cutters and I retire it. I sharpen with a file using a bench vise and insist on a reduced raker for the mostly soft wood (soft maple & wild cherry) I cut. Trying to file down the turned over ear is a pain and takes too long. I never have my chains sharpened by a service because by the time I have touched them up with a file repeatedly, they have reached the point where I retire them and replace with chain that I buy by the foot.
2. You would think the 460 would have lots of power, and it does, but the clutch disengages too easily making it prone to binding in larger cuts.
3. The chain brake is engaged (very lightly when disengaged) (especially on a new saw) and causes a slight hesitation when I hit the trigger. Cutting small brush this is annoying to me. I can accept a starting hesitation on a big saw (like my Jonsered 2171) because I reserve that saw for larger cuts and am not hitting and releasing the trigger all that often. I have removed the chain brake spring to disable that feature on the 460 and the saw performs noticeably better, albeit without one of their much touted safety features.

Backpack Leaf Blowers

Looking for a backpack leaf blower?

The two current top commercial back pack blowers are the Sthil 4 mix BR600 and the Redmax Stratocharged 8000. You will pay somewhere around $460 to $500 US dollars for them but they will push leaves very well...if you have more than a tiny lot, you want something that will do the job.

The Sthil is a 4 cycle engine that still uses oil/fuel mix to lube engine and the Redmax Stratocharged 8000 is uses a 2 port carb setup to eliminate using fuel/air mix to scavenge spent exhaust from chamber. Both technologies offer improved fuel economy and lower emissions over convential 2 cycle engines. I have the Redmax 8000 and it will make you smile in a pile of leaves as they get blasted into the woods. Additionally the Mobil 1 synthetic Racing 2T is very good oil.

Good luck in your choice.

New Weed Whacker?

I just went through the search for a new trimmer myself. The old Craftsman, which is a Ryobi, is 9 years old. It's getting rough to start and the guard broke off. So..........
Craftsman, Echo, Stihl, Shindaiwa, Ryobi were all looked at.

Craftsman, either Ryobi or Poulan, have mostly gone to easy change line. But you have to stop the trimmer and replace line instead of advancing more with a bump and feed head. Yes they still have the bump and feed but only in the smaller cheaper units. There was one on sale that came with a brush cutter attachment that I liked.
Echo seemed decent but for some reason just didn't fit right in my hands. Didn't seem balanced for some reason.

Almost bought a Stihl FS80. The local guy had some on order but none in stock. The FS90 will replace the 80 but it's listed as a 4-mix. A 4-cycle that you still feed 2-cycle mix to it.
Didn't look too long at the Ryobi after I tried out a Shindaiwa. Most of the landscape guys I know use Shindaiwa. I went with a Shindaiwa T242X which is one of the "professional" models, brush cutter blade compatible. It already has the larger deflector which is supposedly needed with a brush blade. Shidaiwa also sells a Tornado blade that has chainsaw teeth mounted on it for saplings/trees, which will work on this trimmer. It has a Speed-Feed® head. You can reload 20-25' of line in 30 seconds, or so they say. It seems well balanced and little vibration at all. It's really quiet and no smoking at all, even for a 2-cycle. The shop (or Shindaiwa) had a promotion going in the spring and this was the last one they had bought at the promotional price. They wouldn't dicker much on price, but it was priced right for me.

Hopefully, this will be my last one. I've heard everyone say Buy Local and give the neighborhood guy a chance, but maybe I'll never need him for service.

Use Harbor Freight for Lawn and Garden Tools?

Harbor Freight and Northern Tool are fairly similar. Some of the stuff is pretty bad, some of it is surprisingly good. Almost all of it is less expensive that the competition. The stock can be inconsistent and it absolutely pays to scope it out, wait for sales, and then get the items you want in the first hour of the sale before it is gone.

Unfortunately, the least impressive area of the store is the gardening section. I think we picked up a soil moisture meter there, but have passed on most other stuff. However, I picked up a 14" throat bandsaw for $200, an animal trap (have-a-heart style) for $15, full cast iron frying pan set for $10, and various tools and supplies for extremely low cost. All work like a champ. If there is one caveat, it is to steer clear of tools that depend on hardened steel. For some reason, the factories in China where these items are produced can't properly temper and harden, and the sparks from some tools indicate a softer alloy that looks good in the store, but doesn't cut or hold an edge. Cast items, however, all seem to be very sturdy and well designed. Perhaps this is a cross-over of skills from the heavy industry of the Maoist era? I've currently got my sights on a wood lathe and a small arc welder, both are simple items that depend on solid old technology.

One tip is that Harbor Freight offers an in-store no-hassle replacement policy for a few bucks. I use it when I know I'm going to be using a product hard. For example, I bought a clear water pump (less than $40) and even with the proper pre-filter, the motor seized after three months. I walked in with the pump and the guarantee, showed the melted motor fan, picked up a replacement and walked out. It was that simple. The new one has worked fine. (FWIW, I thought I had a similar guarantee at Tractor Supply on a gas powered pump, and discovered that it was just another rip-off guarantee. Guess who I'll NOT be buying equipment from in the future?)

If you want something as a toy, Harbor Freight sometimes has a radio controlled park flyer airplane for $30. The durned little thing is easier to fly than my expensive ones and more sturdy.

As for weed whackers - If you have to go for a gas powered one, get one with a four-cycle engine. Unless you are super vigilent about fresh gas, the two-cycles clog up or wear out quickly. I also put a little Lucas gas treatment in my gas can for power tools, to boost the cleaning ability of the gas. Lawn equipment has smaller parts and is more sensitive to dirt than a lot of larger engines. There is one other issue your parents might have experienced. A lot of gas powered tools sold in the recent past were not compatible with the ethanol now being added to gas. Floats, seals, lines, all can be damaged if not made of the proper materials.

So, overall just keep in mind the old adage: "You get what you pay for."